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Creating a Community of Football Readers

The league is the biggest professional football league in the world. Millions of fans sit down each week to follow their favorite teams and players. There is more interaction and involvement with the league today than at any point in history. The interest in the product of the NFL is huge and there are communities of fans surrounding teams and players.

But there are also some interesting communities of people that form around writers. The top NFL writers seem to have the ability to foster communities that build strong connections around the stories and columns shared.

Let’s take a more in depth look at one NFL column, its writer and the success it’s had.

Peter King, Monday Morning Blogger

Peter King is one of the NFL’s biggest writing personalities. King also appears frequently on NFL TV and radio discussing various teams, players and stories. For years, King has been one of the go-to guys in the NFL for any kind of information.

Each Monday morning, Peter King writes what is perhaps his most well known column, Monday Morning Quarterback. The weekly column is one of the favorites among NFL fans of all teams and players. The weekly story includes Peter’s own thoughts on different teams and players. Peter is one of fifty writers with an MVP vote so he always includes the top players he’s thinking about for the award each week. Also included are Peter’s rankings of the team and a few thoughts non-NFL related.

People look forward to this article each Monday. NFL fans are looking for interesting stories and thoughts about their teams and favorite players from one of the most respect writers in the business. Fans respect Peter’s opinion so they want to see where he ranks their team. Also, Peter makes the NFL interesting and people find his column entertaining.

There are a couple of things about Peter and Monday Morning Quarterback that any person can use for a blogging strategy.

Consistent Publishing Schedule

Consistency in the publishing schedule is very important with blogging or writing one of the biggest columns in one of the biggest sports in the world. People appreciate the fact that they can rely on Peter King to have his column published every Monday morning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. Consistency is huge. People rely on this for their entertainment and they know they can count on the article being there when they wake up or when they arrive at work each Monday. Newspapers, magazines and large blogs have deadlines for writers. The same needs to be true for a blog, any blog. A community of fans forms around consistency. There need to be other areas of interest in the article, but consistency needs to be there.

Telling Stories

Peter is a great storyteller. Each week, he seems to have a page or so worth of material that no one else covering the NFL has. There are stories about current players, former players and front office guys and coaches. People love this stuff. When someone loves something as much as people love football, they want to know more. They want to be closer to the topic. Storytelling is what people really connect with. They want to hear stories. It’s the same feeling as sitting with a favorite uncle or grandfather and listening to them tell stories. People look forward to these stories and keep coming back. That’s community.

Entertaining Personality

Some people don’t like Peter. Most respect him. Many love him. He has a particular style of writing and his personality comes through in his articles. There is some wit in his writing voice. It seems like you’re reading an article from someone that really cares about what they’re doing and is a passionate fan just like you. This personality is big for community as well.

Summary

There is a lot to learn about blogging from successful writers.

Peter King, author of Monday Morning Quarterback, is one of the most successful NFL writers in the business. Peter focuses on publishing his column consistency, at the same time each week so his fans can depend on him. Peter tells great stories that no other writer seems to have access to in the league. And finally, Peter has an interesting personality. He makes the normal news sound interesting and people respond by reading his articles over and over each week. Even other writers look forward to Peter’s columns.

Building a community takes time. Peter King certainly didn’t find instant success with writing or even MMQB. It takes time and patience for the fans to find the article, share it with others and to keep coming back each week.

But through all the work comes success and that’s what makes it worth it for any writer.